Sleigh Rides (It's Tradition)
by unoriginals
Summary: ""Pleeeaase?" "No," she firmly stated, shaking her head. "Why not?" he demanded, pouting. She sighed exasperatedly. "Percy, we're sixteen." "But-" "No."" In which Annabeth doesn't want to go tobogganing with Percy, but it's tradition. AU, Oneshot.


**Summary:** ""Pleeeaase?" "No," she firmly stated, shaking her head. "Why not?" he demanded, pouting. She sighed exasperatedly. "Percy, we're sixteen." "But-" "No."" In which Annabeth doesn't want to go tobogganing with Percy, but it's tradition. AU.

**Author's Note:** Hey guys :). I know I haven't been on here for a whilee; my mind was just blanking and I didn't have any inspiration. But I missed writing fanfic, and, even though my writing skills are very, very rusty after this long of a break, it's Christmas, so I figured why not? And just a warning, I don't live in New York and have no idea how Central Park looks, my only source of information being Google, so bear with me. x').

**...**

**Sleigh Rides (It's Tradition)**

Annabeth sat on a snow-covered bench on the sidelines of Central Park, marvelling at how beautiful it was in the wintertime. She smiled softly as she watched kids skating and sledding with their friends, the flurry of white snowflakes obscuring just a hint of her vision.

Suddenly, she heard a thump and a groan behind her. She turned around to see the raven-haired boy whom she'd been waiting for sprawled on the snow clutching his arm. Annabeth tried to hold in her giggles, but in the end, the humour of seeing her boyfriend covered in snow won her over.

"Annabeeethh," he whined. "Aren't you gonna help me up?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you can get up by yourself." But she got off the bench and walked to him anyway, pulling him up by his arm.

He dusted the snow off of himself and grinned. "I could've," he agreed. "But I like it when you touch me," he finished with a wink.

Annabeth blushed. "Don't say things like that, Percy."

He blinked inncoently. "Why not? It's true."

She turned around and started walking away. She felt bad, but she was pretty sure that, by now, Percy would be able to tell that it wasn't just the cold that was reddening her cheeks.

She heard him jogging up behind her.

"Annabeth? Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I swear. I'll never say it agai-"

Annabeth laughed, despite the amount of heat she felt in the region of her face. "It's okay, Seaweed Brain."

"No it's not," Percy replied. "I upset you. I never want to upset you."

She smiled. "You didn't upset me, I promise."

"Yea?" he asked hopefully.

"Yea," she confirmed, turning to face him.

"Really?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes yet again. "Really."

Percy pulled her close and planted a sloppy kiss on her lips. "You're the best, Annabeth."

For a few heartbeats, neither of them said anything. Then, a mischevious smile grew on Percy's face. "Hey, Annabeth?"

"Yea," she replied warily, knowing that she wouldn't like whatever came out of his mouth next.

"Let's go sledding!" he exclaimed, confiming her previous thoughts.

She sighed. "No Percy, I will not go tobogganing with you."

"Pleeeaase?"

"No," she firmly stated, shaking her head.

"Why not?" he demanded, pouting. (And no, Annabeth was not going to give in even though Percy pouting was just about the cutest thing she'd ever seen.)

She sighed exasperatedly. "Percy, we're sixteen."

"But-"

"No."

"But it's tradition, Annabeth. You can't break a tradition."

"Percy, the last time we went tobogganing was when we were six."

"Exactly," he said with wide eyes. "How many years ago was that? Ten. We go sledding together every ten years, didn't you know that?"

Annabeth stifled a smile at Percy's childishness. "No, Perc-"

"Please? Just once?"

She looked away from him, because she was stubborn, but if she looked into Percy's eyes at that moment, she knew that all her willpower would crumble. And he knew it, too. "But everyone will be wat-"

Percy took her face in his hands and crashed his lips into hers.

Just when Annabeth started to feel lightheaded, he pulled away from her lips and looked into her eyes. "Please," he whispered.

She didn't answer, but Percy apparently took that as a yes, because he grinned and pulled her through the snow to the crest of a medium-sized sledding hill with a shorter lineup than the rest, grabbing a green toboggan that he must've brought outside along the way.

Annabeth's brain normally worked faster than an average human's, but only then did she realize what had happened. "Percy!" she whisper-yelled, blushing for the second time that day. "You-you can't just-that wasn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair, love," he said, winking.

Her cheeks getting hotter by the moment, Annabeth punched his arm. "It wasn't fair," she mumbled, knowing that it was a weak retort.

But somehow, she managed to end up flying down the hill with Percy on his toboggan a few minutes later, anyway, and she couldn't say that she minded.

In fact, she wouldn't have minded going down again ten years in the future.

It was tradition, after all.

**...**

**I know this was short, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway ^.^. I had a lot of fun writing it :). Merry Christmas, and for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, happy holidays, anddd... almost New Yearss!**


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